Interview
1. How many agents do you currently have working on your team? What are
your short and long term recruiting goals?
Currently Coldwell Banker Schweitzer has a little over 600 agents. We
want to fill our desks. We still have some empty desks and given the turnover
rates in real estate we have to be constantly recruiting. Over and above
that, my goal is to grow about 10% each year.
2. What is the key differentiator about your company that you present
to candidates that you are interested in recruiting?
NAR stats will tell you that an overwhelming number of people do not make
it in real estate, so without a question our key differentiator is training.
We tie it back to the Simulator because it helps us to identify the key
areas to focus on and we use coaching to help each agent achieve the goals
that they set as individuals. What we do is ask each rookie to take the
assessment and then once we take them on we give them a four week training
program. After the four weeks, we give them a questionaire to to get an
idea of where they think their skills lie and then ask them to take the
simulation again to see what improvements have been made and what gaps
still exist.
3. What is your primary selection criteria when looking to recruit an
agent?
I really look at personality as a base criteria - it's important to me
that the personality competancies are strong because I can train the skills.
When I interview I ask behavioral questions. I search for red flags from
previous positions they've held. For example I try to find out why they
left a previous job and try to find out if they have resistance to authority
or trouble working with others etc... I do not work with people who are
not willing to take the training and coaching.
.
4. Do you prefer hiring new agents or existing agents?
I really like hiring new agents because they come with no bad habits and
they bring a level of energy and excitement into the office that can have
a real impact on waking up existing agents, motivating them to get back
on track and focus on the basics once again. I also like hiring existing
agents when I can get a seasoned agent that is coming to me because the
company they are with is faltering - it's great when that happens because
then they bring other agents with them.
5 . What would you recommend to a broker or manager who is interested
in recruiting, selecting, and training stronger agents?
My strongest recommendation is to make your agents accountable - do not
let them off with 'finding their own way'. This accountability must be
activity driven and focused on skills training.
I also recommend the Real Estate Simulator for generating recruiting leads.
It's important to advertize it and to make people know about it and use
it to demonstrate to agents and prospective agents where they need to
do some work.
|